Page:Writings of Oscar Wilde - Volume 03.djvu/129

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THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL. 103

man, and he plunged into the deep, and the Soul went weeping away over the marshes. And after the second year was over the Soul came down to the shore of the sea, and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep and said, "Why dost thou call to me?" And the Soul answered, “Come nearer that I may speak with thee, for I have seen marvellous things." Se he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head upon his hand and listened. And the Soul said to him, "When I left thee, I turned my face to the South and journeyed. From the South cometh everything that is precious. Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to the city of Ashter, along the dusty red-dyed highways by which the pilgrims are wont to go did I journey, and on the morning of the seventh day I lifted up my eyes, and lo! the city lay at my feet, for it is in a valley. "There are nine gates to this city, and in front of each gate stands a bronze horse that neighs when the Bedouins come down from the

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